Space Flashcards
Aldebaran
an example of a red supergiant
Alpha Centauri
the closest star system to Earth, made up of three stars
Asteroid Belt
separates rock planets from gas planets
Average Star Size
less than four times the size of the Sun
Betelgeuse
a highly unstable red supergiant approximately 600 light years away
Big Bang Theory
the theory that the universe expanded from a single point in space
Big Crunch Theory
the theory that the universe will expand until it reaches at certain point, and the reduce back into nothing, and at the point of nothingness, a new Big Bang will happen
Big Yawn Theory
theory that universe will keep expanding forever
Black Dwarf
when a star cools and eventually becomes a black mass that emits no light, so it will spend the rest of eternity drifting through space
Blackhole
a stage of star death after supernova, leaving behind a huge mass with so much gravity even light is prevented from leaving it, and can suck in nearby stars and solar systems
Blue Giant
a phase in the life cycle of a massive star, where a star burns so hot it becomes blue
CMBR
Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
the energy left over after the Big Bang, furhter evidence for the Big Bang
Doppler Effect
where the wavelength of a sound changes as something moves, making the sound high pitched as it comes towards you and low pitched as it moves away
Dwarf Planets
planets too small to be classed as proper planets
Pluto
beyond Neptune, used to be classed as a planet until more accurate measurements were done, the biggest dwarf planet
Ceres
dwarf planet just beyond Mars, may sustain life
Eris
second-largest dwarf planet after Pluto
Makemake
dwarf planet roughly sixty percent the size of Pluto
Galaxy
group of stars
GEO
a manmade satellite that orbits the Earth in 1 day
Goldilocks Zone
area in a solar system where conditions are perfect to support life
Gravity
forces that keep everything in place in the solar system
HST
a manmade satellite that orbits the Earth in 97 minutes
Lageos
a manmade satellite that orbits the Earth in 3.8 hours
Main Sequence Star
stars such as the Sun, which last for approximately 10000000000 years, our sun is about halfway through
Massive Star
a star more than four times the size of the Sun
Multiverse
the theory that there are multiple universes
Nebulae
clouds of dust and gas
Neutron Star
a celestial object formed mainly of very high density neutrons, the fate of most smaller massive stars
Oscillating Universe Theory
the theory that our universe was created by another universe ending
Planet
things that orbit stars, with satellites orbitting them
Mercury
the smallest and hottest planet
Venus
second planet, named after the Roman goddess of love, covered in poisonous gas
Earth
third planet, only one known to support life
Mars
fourth planet, used to have water, has mountains, may sustain life, has lots of iron
Jupiter
fifth planet, biggest planet, has a red storm that has been raging for over 300 years
Saturn
sixth planet, famous for rings
Uranus
seventh planet, also has rings
Neptune
the last and coldest planet
Planetary Nebula
an expanding shell of gas around a red giant that makes it form a white dwarf
Protostar
huge clouds of hydrogen gas in which stars are made, many thousands of times bigger than our solar system, as the clouds collapse stars are born in them
Red Dwarf
a very low mass main sequence star
Red Giant
as the sun runs out of hydrogen the outer layers of the sun become cooler and they expand massively, when this happens to the sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars will be swallowed up
Red Ring
where outer layers of a supernova rebound off the core in a shockwave
Red Shift
where light from other galaxies has a longer wavelength than expected, showing that galaxies are moving away very quickly, indicating that the further the galaxy is, the faster iti s moving, proving that the universe is expanding and has been since approximately 13.6 billion years ago
Red Supergiant
one of the stages of death that only affects stars more than four times larger than the Sun
Satellite
something that orbits a planet
Solarsystem
a star and its orbitting planets
Stellar Nebula
clouds of dust and gas in space that form stars
Supernova
the largest and most powerful explosions in the universe, where red supergiants literally blow themselves apart, all atoms are originally made from supernova explosions
White Dwarf
gravity causes the red giant to collapse into a small white star with a raidus of 5000 to 6000 km but still has the same mass as the sun
Wormhole
theory that there are holes in space that can transport things to other places in space
